A ProPublica report Wednesday, citing interviews and U.S. custom records, said Wal-Mart’s U.S. stores have been receiving shipments of sports bras and other garments from at least two of the factories on a list of more than 200 plants it’s supposed to have banned from further business.

Bloomberg News

The collapsed Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner, in response to MarketWatch, said it’s taken a number of actions the past few months that meet or exceed other factory safety proposals. He said that includes Wal-Mart enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for unauthorized subcontracting.

Gardner told ProPublica that shipments from one of the banned factories were allowed because of confusion over whether Walmart’s standards applied because the garments were made for its supplier Fruit of the Loom. He said in the article Walmart accepted orders from the other factory to minimize the impact on workers.

U.S. retailers, with the exception of Calvin Klein parent PVH Corp.
/quotes/zigman/5785329/quotes/nls/pvhPVH, Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
/quotes/zigman/167627/quotes/nls/anfANF and Sean John, have refused to sign a legally binding Europe-led and international union-backed accord on building and worker safety in the South Asian country. The accord was drawn up following the collapse of a garment building in April that killed more than 1,100 workers, most of them women. Both Wal-Mart and Gap, fearing lawsuits at home, have expressed concern over signing anything that is legally binding.

Two House Democrats, Reps. George Miller (D., Calif.) and Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.) on Wednesday offered an amendment to a Department of Defense spending bill that would require all clothing made in the South Asian country and sold at military base stores to comply with a binding and enforceable accord on the safety situation there, Women’s Wear Daily reported. The trade publication said the two Congressmen also are urging Wal-Mart, Gap and others to sign on to the international accord.

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About Behind the Storefront

Behind the Storefront is a blog about all things retail. It’s aimed at investors, shoppers and anyone else with a passion for learning about what drives consumer behavior. Hosted by Andria Cheng, Behind the Storefront will cover the business, brands and shopping behavior that’s behind some of the biggest companies, and largest employers, in the world. You can reach Andria at Acheng@marketwatch.com.